The sirtuin genes are part of an intricate stretch response or survival mode response. When times are tough they kick in and increase DNA repair or prevent cell death. Some people use calorie restriction in order to trigger the survival mode response and stimulate the sirtuin genes.

Resveratol also stimulates the sirtuin genes without the calorie restriction or survival mode response. It is similar to calorie restriction but without the calorie restriction.

DAF2 Genes and Insoline

Decreased or low levels of insoline are also linked to longevity. So a diet the keeps insoline levels low leads to a longer life similar to calorie restriction.

Good Cholesterol (HDL)

High levels of good cholesterol (HDL) are linked to longevity. (people living to 100)

Exercise is linked to higher HDL levels.

- Aerobic exercise, walking, jogging, exercise that raises your heart rate for 20 - 30 minutes at a time may be the most effective way to increase HDL levels. (duration)

A good diet can also reduce bad cholesterol (LDL) and increase good cholesterol (HDL).

- Vitamin B, B3 Niacin, can help lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and boost good (HDL) cholesterol. - Alcohol, one or two drinks per day can significantly increase HDL levels. - Omega-3 fatty acids can also increase HDL levels. - Monounsaturated fats such as olive oil can increase HDL levels without increasing the total cholesterol. - Calcium supplementation can increase HDL levels. (postmenopausal women) - Cranberry juice has been shown to increase HDL levels. - Soluble fibers such as oats, fruits, vegetables, and legumes can reduction LDL and an increase HDL levels. - Large flake oatmeal.

- 1-2 drinks a day is linked to lower risk of dementia such as Alzheimer’s. - Alcohol can significantly increase HDL levels. - Higher HDL levels are linked to reduced plaque in blood vessels and lower risk of heart disease.

- Social networks and friends are linked to longevity - Socializing is also linked to brain function and better brain function

Postive emotions

- "Happy and hopeful thoughts had an overall calming effect on the brain, while negative thoughts inflamed brain areas often involved with depression and anxiety." - Amen Clinics

- "*Positive emotions have been linked with better health, longer life, and greater well being in numerous scientific studies.* On the other hand, chronic anger, worry, and hostility increase the risk of developing heart disease, as people react to these feelings with raised blood pressure and stiffening blood vessels." - Harvard Health Publications

Digestion and supplements (prevention)

As we age we absorb less nutrition that our body requires such as vitamins and minerals and supplements can help with those deficiencies.

Sex can stimulate the hormones and immune system, and linked to longevity.

Exercise and growth hormone (repair)

Exercise stimulates the body and is linked to increased blood flow, bone density, and the growth hormone.

- The growth hormone is linked to repairing the body. - Physical activity can actually repair neurological connections in your brain. - Hip fractures are a serious issue as we age and linked to early death. - Exercise such as resistance training is linked to increased bone density and bone retention. - Exercise is as close to a magic bullet as brain fitness gets. - Increased blood flow baths the body and the brain with blood. - Improved memory - Lower risk of stroke - Lower risk of dementia

The Legend (cholesterol and inflammation)

There is a legend of man who lived through many kings and to a very old age. When asked as to why he was living for such a long period of time the man replied oats in the morning and meat and potatoes at night.

- Oats are a soluble fiber that reduces bad cholesterol and inflammation. - Potatoes are very high in nutrition, minerals, and macrominerals such as potassium and phosphorus, which helps to reduce acid-base imbalance or acidic blood pH, macromineral deficiencies, and inflammation linked to disease and premature aging, and this may help you recover at night.

"HDL cholesterol, or "good" cholesterol, appears to scour the walls of blood vessels, cleaning out excess cholesterol. It then carries that excess cholesterol -- which otherwise might have been used to make the "plaques" that cause coronary artery disease -- back to the liver for processing. So when we measure a person's HDL cholesterol level, we seem to be measuring how vigorously his or her blood vessels are being "scrubbed" free of cholesterol."

These days, anti-aging specialists simply refer to it as "T." -- Testosterone is naturally produced primarily through a man's testes. (The hormone is also found in women, but that's another story.) The hormone helps regulate bone density, fat distribution, muscle strength, red blood cell production, sex drive and sperm production, .. http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/16/health/baby-boomers-testosterone/

Is Protein the Key to Fountain of Youth?http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/CHF/39018Mice with age-related heart failure but preserved systolic function regained a youthful heart when given a protein extracted from the blood of young mice, researchers found. At first, researchers observed a "stunning" reversal of cardiac hypertrophy when young and old mice shared blood circulation, but were unable to pinpoint the blood component responsible for the change, according to Richard T. Lee, MD, of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, and colleagues. After several years of searching, however, they identified GDF (growth differentiation factor)-11 as the protein that relatively quickly gave old hearts new life and injected it into the older animals, they reported in the journal Cell. "The changes to the hypertrophic hearts were so dramatic that they could be seen with the naked eye," Lee said during a press conference. "Heart failure with preserved systolic function, also called diastolic heart failure, is one of the most frustrating diseases cardiologists face because there are no successful therapies," Lee said. "But the initial experiments with GDF-11 were stunningly positive from the outset." GDF-11, which belongs to the TGF (transformational growth factor)-beta superfamily, declines with age. As it does, ventricular "stiffening" slowly takes place, eventually leading to heart failure with preserved systolic function. But "emerging evidence indicates that systemic factors profoundly influence tissue aging," researchers wrote. Some of this evidence has come from experiments using a process called parabiosis -- where two mice are surgically joined so that they share blood circulation. Co-author Amy Wagers, PhD, a professor in Harvard's department of stem cell and regenerative biology, had previously shown that factors in the blood of young animals, which until now were unidentified, have a rejuvenating effect upon various tissues in older animals, particularly in the spinal cord and musculature. "One of the interests of my laboratory is in understanding why a decline in the function of our bodies happens and whether it is an inevitable consequence of aging, or if it might be reversible," Wagers said at the press conference. In the present study, Wagers said, they identified a substance in the blood that is abundant in youth and lower in the elderly. "We further found that when we supplemented the low levels of this substance that were present in old animals to the levels normally seen in youth, this could have a dramatic effect on the heart." One precaution researchers took was to determine whether the change in the aging hearts had anything to do with a reduction in blood pressure. They worked for a year, using a custom-built apparatus to measure blood pressure off the tails of mice, before they could conclude that the change in the heart's shape and size was not the result of lowered blood pressure. Researchers have not investigated yet whether the morphological cardiac change correlates with a longer life span. However, they intend to examine the effect of GDF-11 in other organ systems, and eventually will test the protein in humans. They also noted that GDF-11 may not be the only protein or factor with anti-hypertrophic properties.

PBS | NOVA FULL EPISODES Can We Live Forever?http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/can-we-live-forever.html Explore artificial organs, suspended animation, genes that impact aging, and lifelike avatars.Replacing Body Partshttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/replacing-body-parts.html Scientists are learning how to grow custom-made body parts so they can be ready when you—and your vital organs—start falling apart. At the University of Minnesota, Doris Taylor and her colleagues strip organs of their cells, reseed the organ "skeletons" with living cells, and watch as the organs start working right in front of their eyes.Can We Live Forever? - Replacing Body Parts Chapter 2 of 5

S Sleep - the sleep cycle is linked to repair of the body and DNA, sleep deprivation is linked to premature aging and a higher risk of cancer.

C Cholesterol - good cholesterol is linked to longevity and reduced inflammation, and inflammation is linked to premature aging and cancer.

G Genes - a person's genes is an indicator of longevity such as the group with larger than normal cholesterol and a life span that reaches 100. Stimulating genes like the sirtuin genes through chemicals such as resveratol to increase DNA repair and longevity.

D DNA - DNA and cell damage similar to damaging the body is linked to premature aging, DNA aging. Repairing the DNA damage of the cells is part of the sleep cycle similar to the repair of the body. As the DNA gets damaged and changes the person ages.

D Diet - diet and nutrition is linked to good health, good cholesterol, good sleep, the genes or stimulating the genes, and repairing the body.

S Stress - stress is said to be linked to 80% of illnesses, increased cancer risk, the engine of inflammation, increased blood acidity or acid-base imbalance, depletion of minerals, the nervous system and immune system, other factors such as sleep deprivation, and premature aging.

G Growth Hormone - the growth hormone is linked to exercise, which stimulates the body to repair its self by releasing the growth hormone and repairing the body damage.

S Social Networks - people with social networks, friends, and even pets are said to live longer lives.

ARTICLES

Do humans need mystery 'junk' DNA? This carnivorous plant doesn'thttp://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-junk-dna-carnivorous-plant-bladderwort-gene-20130513,0,3143571.storya carnivorous plant deletes so much of its own junk DNA that it has hardly any left. -- Only 2% of the human genome is actually made up of functional elements such as genes, -- The rest of it is non-coding DNA that doesn’t appear to carry active, relevant information for that living creature’s proper functioning (i.e. for building proteins). But the carnivorous bladderwort plant, Utricularia gibba, has only about 3% junk, according to an international team of researchers -- which is unusual even by plant standards. About 97% of its code actually consists of genes -- making it a lean, mean genetic machine. -- Repeated segments buried in the plant's DNA show them that the entire genome has been duplicated three times since its lineage split off from its common ancestor with the tomato and the grape -- and yet this regular doubling of the code hasn’t increased its length. Clearly the plant must be cutting unnecessary DNA faster than it’s adding it, the researchers concluded. -- "The bladderwort certainly shows that at least one plant makes a perfectly good plant without it," Albert said. "By extension, I would say it's suggestive that maybe junk DNA in general isn't of much importance."

Biological clue to why women live longer than menhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22528388Women live longer than men partly because their immune systems age more slowly, a study suggests. As the body's defences weaken over time, men's increased susceptibility to disease shortens their lifespans, say Japanese scientists. Tests of immune function could give an indication of true biological age, they report in Immunity & Ageing journal. The immune system protects the body from infection and cancer, but causes disease when not properly regulated.

A cure for cancer? (5 talks)Ridding the world of cancer: It's a far-flung dream, but that doesn't stop many from trying. Hear from researchers who've dedicated their lives and careers to understanding cancer, then ending it.http://www.ted.com/playlists/63/a_cure_for_cancer.html

Where do ideas come from? (5 talks)How does the metaphorical lightbulb go off? Is it a flash of genius? The power of crowds? These heady talks explore the nature of ideas themselves: Where they come from, how they evolve, and how each of us can nurture them.http://www.ted.com/playlists/20/where_do_ideas_come_from.html